BOSTON (May 9, 2022) – Autumn Hollow announces the release of their single, “Rooting for Laundry,” on May 25. It’s off the Americana EP, Throw the House, due out June 17 on Oak Honest Records. As Mental Health Awareness month comes to a close, “Rooting for Laundry” explores the delicate dance of anti-depressants merging with your life.
Autumn Hollow’s lead singer and songwriter, Brendan Murphy confesses, “When I first started taking anti-depressants I couldn’t write songs. I just wasn’t tuned in to the same frequency as before. Everything was blurry and fuzzy and I couldn’t focus. I need the help and calmness that the pills gave me but at the same time, it was making me crazy that I had no energy or ability to write music. When you rely on a passion for many different things but it’s the same thing that makes things more difficult. I had to relearn something that was always effortless.” Murphy always “felt stuff” whether that was his own emotions or the emotions of people around him. The emotions in the air. Passion was his motor; until it wasn’t and he had to recalibrate. It was like the Jerry Seinfeld joke that sports fans are just “rooting for laundry.”
“Rooting for Laundry” became a puzzle piece coming together as Murphy wrote the song. With just five chords, the band was challenged the find the right tempo and tone. The opening line, “I learned the hard way” became the guiding force with Murphy’s personal anecdotes rounding it out: “Pick up my pills and pick up my kids and hope that one won’t react with the other.” The sound is often centered around the acoustic guitar and Murphy’s earnest vocal delivery triangulated somewhere between Bruce Springsteen’s bedroom records and Fleet Foxes’ rootsy rock and roll.
A lived-in joy extends to the other songs on Throw the House, a sense of gratitude for the opportunity to build and rebuild no matter how much everyday life tears you down. Murphy’s hopes and struggles come across in songs like “Si Viene Si Va.” He says, “That was the first song that I wrote when I was able to write again. Si viene si va is an Italian phrase, that means ‘comes and it goes.’ That idea was really important during that time. I just needed to have more energy and more happiness. Even if you’re writing something that might seem sad or depressing or whatever, you still need those things.”
Throw the House Track Listing
- Meantime/Between Time
- Rooting for Laundry
- Si viene si va
About Autumn Hollow
Boston Americana rockers Autumn Hollow return with their first new recordings since 2013. The three-song EP features a reconstituted band led by singer/songwriter Brendan Murphy and a refreshed outlook on writing and performing. The band has gone through a few lineup changes since its inception in 2007. It currently features Murphy (lead vocals, acoustic guitar), Mike Burke (lead guitar, background vocals), Chuck Vath (bass, background vocals), James DeFilippo (piano, organ, keys), and Nick Campbell (drums).
Tour Dates
May 14- Night Shift Brewing, Everett, MA
June 4- Back East Brewing, Bloomfield, CT
June 17- Blue, Portland, ME
June 18- BareWolf Brewing, Amesbury, MA
June 23- Might Squirrel Brewing, Waltham MA
August 20- Lost Shoe Brewing, Marlborough, MA
